WHAT GEN Z WANTS: the future of volunteerism (METHODOLOGY)

In May of 2024, DoSomething Strategic conducted this survey targeting DoSomething members, American Red Cross members and non-affiliated Gen Zers and Gen Alpha aged 13-25. We reached these individuals through DoSomething and Red Cross newsletters, as well as through social media promotion. Of the respondents, 32 percent were DoSomething members, 22 percent were American Red Cross members, five percent were both and 41 percent were neither.

There were 1,424 responses and 114 were excluded due to being outside of our age parameters. This left 1,310 to be analyzed. Participants were randomly selected for $50 gift card giveaways as a thank-you for their responses. 

The data collection phase included not only responses to the main questions but also the gathering of demographic data. Information on age, gender, race, ethnicity and state of residence were collected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the participant pool.

The DoSomething Discovery Lab analyzed the data. Descriptive analyses were performed to describe the pattern of responses. Overall frequencies and percentages were calculated for all survey responses. 

PARTICIPANTS

Gender distribution showed a predominant representation of female-identifying respondents at 69 percent, male-identifying respondents at 20 percent, and the remaining 11 percent identifying as non-binary, transgender, or choosing not to disclose. In terms of race and ethnicity, the distribution was as follows: 38 percent White or Caucasian, 14 percent Hispanic or Latiné, 15 percent Black or African American, 18 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, two percent Native American or Alaskan Native, and the remaining 12 percent identifying as biracial or preferring not to answer. Regarding age demographics, 35 percent fell within the 13-17 range, and 65 percent were between 18-25.

We defined regular volunteers as those who self-reported volunteering frequently and/or encouraging others to join. We defined non-regular volunteers as those who self-reported being new to volunteering or undecided about how to spend their time. We also wanted to know how often they volunteered. 18 percent are volunteering weekly, 29 percent are volunteering monthly, 30 percent are volunteering a few times a year, five percent are volunteering once a year or less, and 18 percent are not currently volunteering.